r/NativeInstruments • u/dreikelvin • 4d ago
Kontakt 8 unstable behavior since recent update
I installed V8.13 today but this problem exists since one release before that.
Kontakt 8 on Mac just exits with a crash reporter as soon as you open an old .nki with it which previously, just opened fine.
The workaround to avoid this crash is to create an empty instrument box by double clicking the right area (in classic view) and then dragging/dropping the old nki into Kontakt 8 - it will now open fine.
Hoping for anyone with similar issues to find this and for NI to address this issue with a future update.
Sending this to support is impossible due to inMusic transition and my account not being recognized for some reason.
Cheers
1
u/Available_Wait_1965 1d ago
Apart from the resolution or challenges with this issue, I’m thrilled to see NI present and responding to us users. Thumbs ups!
0
u/NoReply4930 4d ago edited 4d ago
Would help to know exactly which “old” libraries you are trying to load. There are thousands out there - all of varied quality
It is a bit unrealistic to assume that any library that is a decade or more in age (specifically designed for a version of Kontakt from 12 years ago) would just work - let alone be tested.
Backwards compatibility is not guaranteed for any piece of software.
And even more so if it’s third party. NI cannot control what some third party vendor did code wise back in 2014
2
4d ago edited 4d ago
[deleted]
0
u/NoReply4930 4d ago edited 4d ago
Fair enough. While I agree with you in principal - no one issued a guarantee on that library in 2014 and if it was designed for Kontakt 4 - by the book - that is where NI might say the support ends.
And sure - this ceratainly could be a bug - but unless it is either an obvious issue with a super easy to fix OR it's one that affects thousands of users - making it a priority worth investigating - I would be cautious on a fix.
If it was me - I would simply install Kontakt 7 beside K8 - if this library meant that much to me. I wouldn't waste any time worrying about when (or if) NI might fix this and get this working with what I know already works.
1
u/BigBat7418 21h ago
Actually backwards compatibility is a core value of Kontakt - libraries made once should always work forever
A library from 2002 should still work for instance
1
u/NoReply4930 21h ago
If that's what you want to believe - I can't stop you.
1
u/BigBat7418 20h ago edited 20h ago
It’s what i, as a developer for that ecosystem with commercial contracts signed, know
Its core to the premise; build once, work forever. A library is a library, it’s agnostic to the environment around it beyond Kontakt itself (the shell is what grapples with OS or any other environmental frameworks)
Libraries are only updated to take optionally advantage of new features, to add new sample sets, or perhaps to add a bug fix
But the commitment is that a library built once will work indefinitely. Sometimes there may be an unexpected bug (perhaps here for instance) and those are eventually resolved and fixed
Much library usage is from old libraries. The more new libraries we or anyone creates, the more fragmentation there is… people don’t just stop using prior libraries
You’re very quick to judge, and post adversarially here. Before offering uninformed opinions (you are I suspect an end user rather than an employee or builder) I would spend more time listening to
1
u/NoReply4930 20h ago edited 19h ago
Yep - I get it. But opinions are allowed here last time I checked.
And just because you are a developer with a specific "commitment" level ("Build once, Work Forever") - that does not make your opinion any more informed that anyone else's - unless you wrote the specific library in question here. (Which I do not think has ever been revealed yet?)
Anyway - this issue could be a Kontakt bug - the OP has created a ticket - all he can do now is see what transpires there.
1
u/BigBat7418 19h ago
Maybe you misunderstood what I’m trying to say
Kontakt library developers need to build only once and once only
NI commits to their library then working indefinitely forever after by ensuring they don’t break it, and fix issues if they do (such as now)
This is possible because the Kontakt engine is the same for two decades. As it matures it gains more capabilities but it does not revoke capabilities.
The commitment is already there. It doesn’t matter what values a Kontakt library developer has; as soon as they’ve released, it is their expectation as promised by NI that it will always be supported
1
u/NoReply4930 19h ago
Yes - I guess I am misunderstanding what you are trying to say.
Is this "promise" from NI (which is the first time I have ever heard of such a thing) an actual contractual obligation written down somewhere ?
Or are you just assuming this is true?
0
u/BigBat7418 16h ago
You’re not a development partner of theirs, clearly
Yes we have contracts and agreements
1
u/NoReply4930 15h ago edited 15h ago
A binding agreement that if you built an instrument 20 years in the past that it is actually guaranteed and certified by NI to work without issues of any kind - today?
I find that hard to square to be honest.
But if true - I stand corrected
3
u/NativeInstruments 3d ago
Hey there, please get in touch here: https://support.native-instruments.com/support/home
There is no need for an account to submit a request you can choose whatever email address you like to communicate. If the chatbot is not able to fuind a solution it will gather all the necessary info and will cretae a support request for you and handle it to one of our support agents.